1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method, apparatus, and system for remote baby monitoring. More specifically, this invention relates to providing additional functions to a remote baby monitor including vibration and vibration adjustment.
2. Problems in the Art
There is an ever-growing number of people that wish to use baby monitors to monitor the condition of their babies or small children. This monitoring can be performed with a baby monitoring system. A baby monitoring system typically includes both a transmitter unit and a receiver unit. Some baby monitors broadcast the sounds from a baby from the transmitter unit to the receiver unit. This allows a parent, relative, babysitter, childcare provider, or other person to monitor a baby crying or a baby otherwise creating sound.
Use of a baby monitor permits a baby's caregivers some level of additional freedom. For example, instead of periodically checking on a baby throughout the night, parents will be immediately awakened if the baby is crying to indicate a need to be fed, changed, or otherwise comforted. Further, if caregivers do wish to periodically monitor the baby they can do so without getting out of bed unless the presence or absence of particular sounds indicates that further action is required. Additional freedom is afforded to caregivers at naptime. For example, caregivers can go outside and still be alerted if baby requires attention.
Baby monitoring can involve more than just determining if a baby is crying. The sounds or absence of sounds can indicate a number of different activities or conditions related to the baby. The particular sounds or lack of particular sounds can indicate if the baby is awake or asleep, breathing or not breathing, coughing, strangling, falling or climbing out of the crib. Based on what sounds are heard or not heard, a caregiver can make a decision concerning whether to respond or not. This prior art monitoring requires audio awareness of a parent, relative, babysitter, childcare provider, or other person who monitors a baby or child. In other words, the parent must be able to hear the receiver. In certain situations, the audio monitoring of prior art inventions does not provide adequate notice of a crying child or is otherwise inconvenient. For example, a parent could be using a vacuum cleaner, and be oblivious to a crying child as the parent would not be able to hear the baby monitor. Similarly, a parent could be located outside using a lawnmower or snow blower, for example, and would not be able to hear the remote baby-monitoring device. In these situations, the prior art devices would not be effective.
There is also the problem of using a prior art baby-monitoring device at nighttime. Such a device can wake up more than one person. For example, in a two-parent household where the parents share a bedroom, both parents would awaken even though only one parent is needed to care for baby. As can be appreciated, there are many situations in which either audio monitoring cannot be heard, or the audio monitoring is too distracting. If audio monitoring is too distracting, a person may just turn the baby monitor receiver off.
For example, if a parent receives an important phone call there may be difficulties in listening to both the phone call and listening to the baby monitor. Similarly, the parent may not want the other party to the phone conversation to hear the baby, should the baby begin to cry. In these and other situations, a parent may be inclined to simply turn the baby monitor off. If a baby monitor must be turned off, it is not serving any useful function.
Some attempts have been made to solve these problems using indicator lights. However, this solution is deficient in a number of ways. First, indicator lights require that the remote baby monitor always be in view of its operator. This can be problematic, as it requires that the operator's visual attention be directed towards these lights. An inattentive caregiver will not realize that lights are flashing or otherwise indicating that the baby may require attention.
It is therefore a primary objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide an apparatus, method, and system which improves upon the state of the art.
It is another objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a system and method of baby monitoring.
It is a further objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide an apparatus system and method of baby monitoring that permits remote monitoring with non-audio alert.
Yet another objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device that is wearable.
It is a further objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a means of communicating a baby's noises to a remotely located parent or other person.
It is yet another objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a baby monitor with improved transmission range.
Yet, a further objective of the present invention is to provide a remote baby monitoring system that can operate at multiple frequencies.
Yet a further objective of the present invention is to provide an alert with a vibrator to notify a remotely located parent or other person that a baby is crying.
Further objects, features, or advantages of the present invention include:                a. improved communication over a 900 megahertz channel.        b. adjustable volume level located at the remote receiver.        c. adjustment of the level of vibration located at the receiver.        
These and other objectives, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.